Dutch Mayor Apologized for Proposing Putin's Daughter Should Go

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July 23, 2014 / 7:01 PM GMT / Updated July 23, 2014 / 9:17 PM GMT

The mayor of a Dutch city where the bodies of Malaysia Airlines victims were taken apologized Wednesday for saying Russian President Vladimir Putin's daughter could be expelled from the Netherlands. Hilversum Mayor Pieter Broertjes tweeted that his remark on Radio 1, first reported by the Guardian, "was not wise." He added: "It came forth out of a feeling of helplessness that many people will recognize."

There have been unconfirmed reports that Putin's older daughter, Maria, lives with her boyfriend in Holland, where some Dutch citizens are furious at the Russian president for the crash of Flight 17, allegedly shot down by pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine. Forty bodies recovered from the wreckage were flown to the Netherlands and taken to Hilversum on Wednesday.